Why we made this change

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1998: Yahoo and
others pass on the chance to buy new search technology developed at Stanford University for $500,000. Their
rationale: “Search doesn’t matter. Portals do.”These rejections forced Sergey Brin and Larry Page to reluctantly
take a leave of absence from Stanford (both wanted to become college professors,
like their dads) to see if they could turn Google, their new search engine,
into a business.

1999: A year
later, Google garners $25 million from Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, even
after Brin and Page insist that each venture-capital firm would only be allowed
to invest half the money. This “divide and conquer” strategy leaves the
denizens of Sand Hill Road
to squabble with one another while Brin and Page retain control over their
nascent enterprise. It also enables them to frustrate the moneymen by refusing
to deface the most valuable piece of real estate on the Internet–the Google
home page–by loading it up with ads, and by turning away numerous CEO
candidates.

2000: Yahoo
chooses Google to power searches on its portal, exposing the search engine to
millions of users for the first time. With growth accelerating, Google benefits
from the bursting of the technology bubble since this allows it to hire talented
engineers for lower wages.

2001: Israeli entrepreneur
Yossi Vardi persuades Brin and Page that Google can profit by drawing a thin
blue line down the page, putting organic search results on the left, and placing
small text-based ads on the right. Brin and Page previously resisted ads, fearing
that they would cause people to lose confidence in the integrity of Google’s
search results. While at Stanford, they coauthored and delivered a paper called
“The Evils of Advertising.”

2002: Google cuts
a deal with AOL to power search and syndicate ads, giving it access to 34
million America Online customers, and inks other similar pacts. Revenue
increases 500 percent and profits skyrocket to nearly $100 million.

2003: Google launches
an automated program to deliver contextually relevant text-based ads to
hundreds of thousands of affiliated websites, creating a self-reinforcing
network of support for the company and giving Internet publishers an easy way
to profit by letting Google display ads on their pages. This strategy makes
Google reminiscent of the three major television networks in their glory days:
give away the programming for free, and profit from ads displayed on the
network of affiliates.

2004/2005: Google
raises billions of dollars in an unconventional initial public offering and a
successful secondary offering, with Brin and Page retaining absolute control by
owning shares with super-voting rights. In the process, they drive Wall Street professionals
crazy by forcing investment bankers working on the deal to sign confidentiality
agreements at every single meeting, rather than only once. With “Don’t be evil”
as the company motto, Brin is anointed as arbiter of good taste, deciding what
does, and does not, fit. Beer and cigarette ads are out; wine ads are in.

2006: Google buys
YouTube, giving it control of the world’s most popular online video site.
Google bets big on the future of video, paying $1.65 billion, even though
YouTube has no sales. The view is that Google will capture the eyeballs and
mindshare now and figure out how to make money later.

2007: Brin and
Page both marry brainiacs at destination weddings, ensuring the pedigrees of
their progeny. Brin and Page also reaffirm their private pact to work together for
at least another decade atop Google. And with the stock price soaring, the duo
breaks into the elite ranks of the top five on the Forbes 400 List of the Wealthiest
Americans, with a net worth exceeding $15 billion each.

2008: Google’s 10th
birthday coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Justice Department’s antitrust
suit against Microsoft, which forced the giant to compete with one hand tied
behind its back while Google raced ahead. Now Google is replacing Microsoft in
the crosshairs of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, due to the dominance
of its online ads and search, and a proposed ad pact with Yahoo, its biggest
competitor.

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